The background of the invention is discussed in the parent application Ser. No. 398,721, which was invented by the same inventor and is assigned to the same assignee. The contents of that patent application are incorporated herein by reference.
The parent application describes the toxic and lethal effects of cholinergic neurotoxins such as pilocarpine, an experimental drug which is of interest to researchers studying the causes and mechanisms of epilepsy (Clifford et al 1987; complete citations are provided below), and soman, a nerve gas that poses a threat in chemical warfare (McLeod et al 1984). Either of those substances can cause continuous seizure activity which persists for hours and causes disseminated brain damage, which typically is fatal unless adequately treated. The parent application discloses that a class of compounds referred to as aryl-cycloalkyl-alkanolamines are effective in protecting lab animals against convulsions or death when they are exposed to soman, even when the aryl-cycloalkyl-alkanolamines are administered only after the onset of seizure activity. Those compounds have a biological activity which can be classified as muscarinic anti-cholinergic activity, since they antagonize (i.e, inhibit the activation or effects of) the muscarine class of acetylcholine receptors on the surfaces of neurons in the central nervous system. Aryl-cycloaklyl-alkanolamine drugs include procyclidine, biperiden, triperiden, and trihexyphenidyl.
The subject invention discloses that a number of other muscarinic anti-cholinergics which do not fall within the aryl-cycloalkyl-alkanolamine class of compounds have also been determined to be effective against cholinotoxic syndromes.